Need new headphones with fairly better sound isolation than HD201! Any suggestions?

chaoshead

Member
Ok, so i have now used my Sennheiser HD201 for about 3 years and now i want better headphones.

Requirements:
- better sound isolation than HD201! This is #1 REQUIREMENT! I guess i am not looking for any open headphones then, huh?
- USAGE AREA: i do a lot of voiceovers, sound editing and i watch a lot of movies with them, so sound quality should also be better. occasional music listening to. I do NOT plan to travel with the new headphones, so they will remain in my room!
- earpads should be softer
- only ONE cable!
- BONUS if has a coil cord!
- BONUS if the cable can be detached from the headphones, but definitely not a requirement!
- PRICE shouldn't go much higher than $150. Yes, im completely aware that im fairly limited on my choices because of such "low" price, but yeah... it's how it is). I am also located in north of europe, so unfortunately, i cannot rely on Amazon and U.S prices. :/ I can use eBay, however.

So far, i have tried googling and taken alternatives from my previous thread, but since im a noob at this, i definitely hope for some good help on this:
- Beyerdynamic DT770
- Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro
- Grado SR60e (apparently, the isolation on these are not good?)

I realize those 3 have their missing requirements, but yeah... do come up with suggestions! I am eager to know! :)

Thanks in advance!
 
Direct Sound EX29 plus. If isolation is king, they also sound good too.

Wow, those are some heavily isolated headphones! :O

Unfortunately, they are out of reach for me (no shops around here have them, not even across the country and continent) and quite the nudge up from my price range if I add shipping to it, sadly. Bummer. They seem solid and quality, for sure. I will surely get them some other year.

Any other recommendations? Thanks for that suggestion, though!
 
Wow, those are some heavily isolated headphones! :O

Unfortunately, they are out of reach for me (no shops around here have them, not even across the country and continent) and quite the nudge up from my price range if I add shipping to it, sadly. Bummer. They seem solid and quality, for sure. I will surely get them some other year.

Any other recommendations? Thanks for that suggestion, though!
I personally use Buyer DT770s , Shure SRH840s. I can get a decent mix on the 770s but, I have to really check the mix on other sources. I also wish they were a bit lighter in weight. I’m going to buy the cheap Behringer headphones for tracking in my home studio.
 
Hmm... so far, it seems to be a pretty close race between these headphones:
Shure SRH840 (they get good reviews, they would work great for my purposes and they are also within my budget)
Sennheiser HD25-II (these DJ-phones seems to be another good choice, even though im not planning to travel around with my headphones)
Beyerdynamic DT770 (these were my initial choice, but im uncertain about the sound leakage on them, but price, quality and comfort seems to be top notch on these)

Not really sure which one to go for, really... So yep, im stuck... :/ Any other alternatives? :)
 
...uncertain about the sound leakage ...
What do you mean, exactly? Sound in, out? Listening, mixing, tracking, environment, etc?

If you want to seal yourself in, or the world out, you need "in-ears" and either custom fit or a brand that has a lot of different earpiece types and sizes so you an effectively plug your ear canal with the earpiece.

Over-ear/on-ear headphones are not, by themselves, going to keep outside noise from entering. That's why Bose (and everyone else, now) use technology to actively cancel most outside noise. (You'd probably get a headache pretty quickly if regular headphones were sealing tightly enough to shut out external noise.)
 
I like the HD25's but I've replaced the earpads on mine with velour ones which are much more comfortable.

Yeah... they seem to be the most fitting for me all-around. But... which one is it? I seem to get several choices: HD25-III, HD25-1 II, HD25-II, HD25 Plus, HD25 Basic Edition.... too many choices.... heh.

and where did you order the velour ones for those?

And when i was talking about leakage, i meant that the sound should not leak TOO much to the people near me when im wearing the headphones...
 
I bought my earpads on Ebay but Sennheiser also sell them. You can also buy them in all sorts of colours. I hadn't realised that they were up to the HD25-III now.

According to John Willett (who used to work for Sennheiser UK) the differences are:
The HD 25 has not changed from the first to the current one - they will all sound the same.

The differences were in the cable length and connector.

HD 25-1 had a 1.2m cable with a rt-angle connector.
HD 25-1 II had a 1.5m cable with a rt-angle connector.
HD 25 II had a 2m cable with a straight connector
The above had a steel cable with 3.5mm jack and adaptor to ¼" jack

HD 25-13 and HD 25-13 II were 600Ω, had a 3m cable and a ¼" jack only.

HD 25-C II had a 2/3m coiled copper cable.

The latest versions are just re-packaged and less versions.

It's only the HD 25-SP and SP II that sounded different as they were down-rated and had a cheap headband instead of the split one.
 
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I bought my earpads on Ebay but Sennheiser also sell them. You can also buy them in all sorts of colours. I hadn't realised that they were up to the HD25-III now.

According to John Willett (who used to work for Sennheiser UK) the differences are:

Ah neat! Then I will pretty much go for the chapest one i can find haha. Maybe if I can find that 25-C II, i'll go for that since it has a coiled cable, which is very handy to have. :)

Thanks for the info!

Ohh, the earpads on Beyerdynamics... are those velour or velvet earpads..? or they the same?
 
i've been using Sennheiser HD280 Pro for a while with fairly good success in both tracking and enitial mixing for mix placement...when recording vocal tracks i never have a sound bleed issue since they are closed back... for final mix down i use my studio moniters for truer bass and highs :listeningmusic::guitar:
 
i've been using Sennheiser HD280 Pro for a while with fairly good success in both tracking and enitial mixing for mix placement...when recording vocal tracks i never have a sound bleed issue since they are closed back... for final mix down i use my studio moniters for truer bass and highs :listeningmusic::guitar:

They do seem to get great reviews and all. Seems to be difficult finding THE perfect headphones hehe, so i gotta compensate the price for the non-detachable cable on those. How would you say they are in terms of sound leaking out so people nearby can hear the sound..? Bad? Good? Ok?
 
Hi.

I recommend bayer 770. When pro studios have them for there singers while recording, im fairey sure they are good enough for your usage, or...?

-einar-
 
I have the DT 770 Pro and the Audio Technica ATH M50x. The A.T.'s win every time. Totally fully adjustable. Multiple detachable leads and curly one's. Closed back type. May be at the top of your budget line but worth it.
 
I have the DT 770 Pro and the Audio Technica ATH M50x. The A.T.'s win every time. Totally fully adjustable. Multiple detachable leads and curly one's. Closed back type. May be at the top of your budget line but worth it.

Yes, I have been wondering on them M50X's for a good while, the same with DT700 Pros... and no, the M50Xs are well within my budget, so that's all good. I guess that for my are of use, they will be the preferred headphones for me.... Will swap out those earpads, though. Hehe.

ATH-M40X are better and cheaper than 50X. Try them.

What? Really? I gotta watch comparison videos on them, because the M50Xs are well within my budget.. How are they better in your opinion?
 
Read my post here (Datman):
acquisto cuffie chiuse da registrazione con impedenza non troppo alta sui 100 euro - Monitor da studio - Homestudioitalia | Il forum italiano di home recording e strumenti musicali

Translation:
Three weeks ago I went to Cherubini, in Roma, to try some Audio Technica headphones. Very kindly, the clerk made me try the ATH-M40X, the 50 and, since I had with me the Sennheiser HD650 as a reference, on his own initiative he also made me try the 70. I used the Sansa Fuze player with RockBox firmware as a source, listening Ana Caram, Pentatonix and then a beautiful recording I made of a performance of "The bollings suite" by Claude Bolling by a friend of mine flutist with piano, double bass and drums using a pair of Shure SM94 microphones, two monotransistor "preamp cables" homemade and the iRiver H120 "mp3 player" with RockBox, recording wav 44.1 / 16.

For the 50 I was a little biased, since I read that it was a bit sharp. In comparison with the HD650, however, the feeling was the same. The pavilions are slightly larger than the 40X ones.

I preferred the 40X. It is balanced, even if sometimes it seems to be a bit (a bit) boomy in the half octave around 120Hz and slightly (slightly!) hissing around 7 ~ 8kHz. Please remember I am comparing to the Sennheiser HD650! :-)

The 70, at the "modest" price of around 230 € (more or less, if I'm not mistaken) gave me above all the feeling of the softness of the ear cushions, but I didn't notice a decidedly superior quality. The difference from the HD650 was still felt. The salesman said that the difference compared to the 40X is noticeable over time ... It also does not fold in as the 40 and 50 (which, in reality, when it is not necessary it is not much positive ...).

At the end I took the 40X for 99 €. I use it every day and, considering the cost and practicality, it is excellent. As I said, however, the 70, although costing more than double, did not seem better.
You can use the 40X as a good reference.
 
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Nice review.

There is only ONE thing i do not like with M40Xs and it's the fact that they seem to be overly tight? I completely forgot mentioning that i wear glasses, so for longer sessions, i would love to have a set that are comfortable for long sessions. Maybe if i switch the earpads with softer ones like the velour ones that are used on the DT770s? That should do the trick, right? And remember that im doing a lot of voiceover work... not so much mixing/music..
 
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